Endurance Cup Expands To Five Rounds For 2024 IMSA Season
IMSA has released the 2024 calendar for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship today at Road America ahead of the IMSA Sportscar Weekend races.
The 2024 schedule features 12 rounds, five of which make up an expanded Michelin Endurance Cup. The additional six-hour endurance race is set to be held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, following on from this year’s scheduled return to the ‘Brickyard’ in September.
Another notable change is a return to Detroit, though the 2024 season will see the series use a new layout on the streets of the Motor City rather than around the Belle Isle circuit.
All five Endurance rounds, plus the August race at Road America, will feature all four 2024 IMSA classes (GTP, LMP2, GTD and GTD Pro) whilst Long Beach, Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca and Detroit will complete the 2024 schedule for the headlining GTP class.
LMP2 will headline at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) which, together with the Endurance rounds and Road America will complete a seven-race calendar for the Gibson-powered prototypes, Daytona restored as a points-scoring round for the first time since 2019 for the class.
GTD Pro fans will get to see the all-Pro-crewed GT3 spec machines, which in 2024 will be boosted by factory efforts from both Chevrolet and Ford, at 10 rounds. They will race at all five endurance rounds plus Laguna Seca, Detroit, CTMP, Road America and the solo all-GT race of the year at Virginia International Raceway. Lime Rock does not feature on the 2024 calendar.
Finally, GTD features at 10 race meetings, joining GTD Pro on the bill everywhere other than Detroit, plus acting in support of the GTPs around the streets of Long Beach.
There are multiple schedule clashes with the 2024 FIA WEC season. Long Beach will run on the same weekend in April as the FIA WEC race at Imola, the race at Laguna Seca is scheduled for the same weekend as the 6 Hours of Spa and the weekend at CTMP is being held on the same dates as the WEC’s return to Sao Paulo.
In addition, the Detroit Grand Prix clashes with the Nürburgring 24 Hours and the Endurance Cup race at Watkins Glen will run on the same weekend as the Spa 24 Hours.
“Undoubtedly one of the key elements that has attracted our corporate partners and 18 automotive manufacturers is the annual schedule of events that IMSA is able to deliver,” said IMSA President John Doonan.
“The venues and events we visit on an annual basis are world-renowned and beloved by race fans and competitors everywhere. We are proud to unveil our 2024 calendar which once again delivers IMSA racing to vitally important markets throughout North America.”
2024 Michelin Endurance Cup in detail
The 2024 calendar will open as usual on the final weekend of January at Daytona International Speedway for the 62nd Rolex 24 At Daytona on the weekend of Jan. 25-28.
The twice-around-the-clock battle will award WeatherTech Championship points for all four participating classes – GTP, LMP2, GTD PRO and GTD – marking the first time since the
2019 season that the event will count for WeatherTech Championship points in the LMP2 class.
The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring occupies its traditional slot in the third weekend of March with the 72nd rendition slated for the weekend of March 13-16.
The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen brings endurance racing back to New York’s Finger Lakes region on the weekend of June 27-30 for the third Michelin Endurance Cup race of the season.
The new addition to the Michelin Endurance Cup in 2024 is an expansion of the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to six hours on the weekend of Sept. 20-22. The endurance race at IMS was widely
expected since last summer’s announcement of the WeatherTech Championship’s return to the Speedway for a two-hour and 40-minute race at IMS next month. It will be the series’ first visit to Indianapolis since 2014.
The 2024 WeatherTech Championship and Michelin Endurance Cup season will wrap up at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on the weekend of Oct. 9-12 with the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans.
The remainder of the 2024 calendar
The WeatherTech Championship’s return to Detroit comes via a 100-minute race featuring the GTP and GTD PRO classes, which will compete in a 100-minute battle on Saturday, June 1.
The series previously raced on Detroit’s Belle Isle circuit through the 2022 season but next year will be its first time on the city’s downtown street circuit, which hosted the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge GS class in 2023.
Detroit will be one of two 100-minute sprint races on city streets in 2024, joining the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Saturday, April 20. That race will include the GTP and GTD classes only.
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca makes up the other half of IMSA’s annual West Coast ‘swing’, with a two-hour and 40-minute battle involving the GTP, GTD PRO and GTD classes on Sunday, May 12.
The LMP2 class will not compete at WeatherTech Raceway in 2024 but will compete for the overall victory at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Sunday, July 14 as the lead class in a two-hour and 40-
minute event that also includes the GTD PRO and GTD classes.
Road America will host the only two-hour and 40-minute sprint event to include all four WeatherTech Championship classes as GTP, LMP2, GTD PRO and GTD are set to return to the Kettle Moraine on Sunday, Aug. 4.
VIRginia International Raceway will host the lone GT-only WeatherTech Championship race in 2024 with a two-hour and 40-minute contest set for Sunday, Aug. 25.
The GTD PRO and GTD classes each will compete in 10 races in 2024, with nine scheduled for the GTP class and seven for LMP2.
In a break from tradition, remaining announcements and business updates will be delivered as part of IMSA President John Doonan’s annual “State of the Sport” presentation at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Thursday, October 12 during the season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans weekend.
Featured image courtesy of IMSA
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